Jack's girlfriend?
by nylady
Summary: The girl that came to the house, the one that they are all growing to love is gone and someone else is trying to take her place.
1. Chapter 1

The boys all filed into the house, Jack was lagging behind, it was the first time he had seen the house since he was shot.

He wasn't sure how it would feel. For him it was a relief to be home, after such a long stay in the hospital. His right arm was still in a sling, it was still healing. The other boys had gone upstairs to make sure that his room was still neat, so he could lie down if he wanted. The doctors had told them plenty of rest was good and they intended to make sure he got it.

He had only been in the house for a second when he saw Bobby's face in the stairs, "Oh, Jackie, can we see you up here, please."

There was something about the tone of his voice that made him wonder what they were up to. He climbed the stairs slowly, not wanting to be ambushed. He didn't think his brothers would hurt him after being out of the hospital for such a short time, but he didn't know what kind of joke was coming.

He finally made it to the top of the stairs and found all of his brothers standing outside his room, looking at something inside. "What's up?"

Bobby turned and smiled devilishly at him, "Quiet, you wouldn't want to wake goldilocks, would you?"

"Huh?" Jack walked toward his brothers to see what they were talking about. When he looked in the room there was a girl asleep in his bed, clutching his leather jacket to her chest.

"So I guess the fairy isn't as much of a fairy as we thought or is she your girlfriend?" Bobby made a limp wrested gesture toward him and Angel and Jerry couldn't help but laugh.

Hearing the commotion the girl opened her eyes, saw the boys and leapt to the top of the bed still clutching the jacket. Fear and anger raged in her eyes as she stared at the three of them. Jack pushed the other boys out of the way and slowly approached the girl, "It's ok, it's me Jack. They won't hurt you."

He stroked the side of her face until she calmed down and looked at him. Her eyes changed when she looked at him, her voice sounded calmer then was expected, "Jack, I'm sorry, I wanted to surprise you."

Jack's eyes showed emotion that his brothers had only seen when it came to them and their mother.

The girl got up and hugged him gently, taking note not to hurt his arm. Bobby, Angel and Jerry had slowly made their way into the room. They had enough practice when Jack came to live with them to know not to spook this girl anymore than she already was. They were interested to know who she was. Out of the blue, half giggling and looking at his brothers, Jerry said, "I know who she is."

Talking louder, "Dawn, is that you girl?"

The girl raised her head and smiled at him, "Jerry, you old fart, how have you been?" She walked over to Jerry and gave him a hug. "Sorry to hear about ma, how are you holding up?"

"Pretty good, haven't had much time to think about it," he said looking at Jack. Jack blushed.

Dawn turned back toward Jack, "Were you planning on calling anyone about this?" She pointed to his arm, "Ronnie and the guys are out of their minds. You know Ronnie, he read about you getting shot on the internet. Freaked out, we all thought you were dead," she frowned. "I came to see if it was true, I told them you were stronger than they were giving you credit for."

She put her arm around his waist and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "So who are you friends?" Then she put her hands up, "Don't tell me, let me guess."

She approached the guys. "I know Jerry," she turned to the other African-American guy. "Tall, muscular, lady's man, you must be Angel and let's see, tall, but not to tall, muscular and a knot-head, you must be Bobby." She smiled at Jack, "Isn't that the way you described them?"

Jerry laughed so hard that he could barely stand.

Bobby and Angel stepped forward, doing their best to intimidate Dawn, "And who, may we ask, are you?"

She turned and smiled, "Jack can explain it, I have to go down and finish dinner. Jerry, there is more than enough, please call Camille and the girls. I would really like to see them." She turned and went downstairs.

The brothers three looked at Jack, Jerry was the first one to speak, "I know the story, so I am going down to see what's cooking and to call my girls." He smiled, patted Jack on the shoulder and left, leaving him alone with his two older brothers.

"So," Angel said, "Who is she and what's her story?"

"What is she to you?" Bobby added, sounding annoyed because he couldn't intimidate her.

Jack felt a little uneasy, "Well, I guess you could say she is my girlfriend."

"You can't have a girlfriend, you never have before, and do you even know what to do with a girl?" Bobby and Angel were shooting questions at him faster than the bullets came on that unfortunate day.

The questions to him were stupid, he had been with Dawn for a year and before that they were friends for 6 months. He had all intentions to answer their questions, but their noses perked up, "What is she cooking? Whatever it is it smells good."

The two boys turned and started to go downstairs, they both turned around in unison, "Are you coming, you wouldn't not want to see your girlfriend." Jack wanted to say something, but he just blushed and pushed passed the two of them.

"So, Jackie, does this mean that I can't call you a fairy anymore? By the way, who wears the pants in your relationship?" Bobby just couldn't stop heckling Jack. _My brother is growing up and I don't think any of us have told him anything about girls. He has caught Angel and Sophie, but we never really sat him down to talk to him about sex. I hope he is protected, maybe, as his big brother, I should talk to him about condoms and how you should make a woman feel. Like I would know, I don't think I can remember when the last time I was with a woman I cared about. _"Yo, Bobby." Angel was taking.

"Yea, what?"

"What are we supposed to think about her, what would ma do? I really wish she was here to help. And what was with the way she acted when she saw us?"

Bobby was about to answer when there was a knock on the door. He went to answer it. When he opened the door Camille, Amelia and Danniella, Jerry's wife and kids, were there.

"Hi, come in. Jerry's in the kitchen with Jack's girlfriend," he rolled his eyes.

"She is a nice girl and her name is Dawn. Bobby Mercer can't you be nice, she is good for Jack and if I remember correctly your mother liked her, shouldn't that be enough?" She gave him a look he was used to meaning don't start in front of the girls.

Camille headed for the kitchen with the girls; Bobby followed swearing under his breath for getting reamed by Camille. The girls ran up to Jerry, he picked them both up and gave them each a kiss and hug. When he put them down they went over to where Dawn was cooking and they said her name, she turned to look, "Jerry, did you hear someone call my name?"

Jerry smiled, "It wasn't me."

She went back to cooking; the girls said her name again. She turned around again, smiled at Camille, "Camille, Hi! Was it you?" Camille shook her head.

The girls giggled, "We're down here." Dawn looked down and knelt in front of them, they hugged her.

While the girls were talking to Dawn, Camille was helping with dinner, all four brothers went to talk in the dining room.

Angel said what Bobby was thinking, "Ok, give it up little brother, tell us the story. Meaning Bobby and I, Jerry seems to already know everything."

"How is that possible, how does he know and we don't?" Bobby was curious

"Jack brought her home about 6 months ago and we met her then. Mom like her, she said that Dawn was good for Jack. Sorry that I am talking about you like you aren't here." He turned to look at Jack.

"I'm used to it."

"Ok, story goes, I met Dawn in New York, she was waiting tables in this club the guys and I played at frequently. She always talked to us, not like a groupie, like we were people. Most of the girls talked to us and giggled and they always wanted to touch us." All the guys knew that Jack was not one to be touched, unless he trusted you.

"Anyway, she came over one night and walked right by. The guys said she was upset because her friend, Shana, was found dead from an OD. I went to find her, for some reason I needed to see if she was ok."

Bobby leaned back in his chair and sighed, "I didn't ask for a biography, just an explanation."

Jack ignored him and continued, "I went to find her and found her out back in the alley. She was crying, guys, crying. I have only seen mom cry and you guys always helped with that, this time I was on my own. So I asked her what was wrong, she ignored me. I asked her again and she looked at me with tears in her eyes, but hate on her face. She reminded me of me when I was young, so I thought would my brothers do. I walked away, but also mentioned that the guys and I were going for coffee after the show." The guys smiled thinking of how they had influenced their little brother.

"Dinner is ready." Camille called from the kitchen.

"Give us the reader's digest version," Angel said sounding a little annoyed by having the story interrupted.

"Went for coffee, talked, found out we have some things in common, wanted to see her all the time." Jack took a breath and continued, "Dated other girls, no one understood, talked to Dawn more, dated her for 6 months, moved in together, been together since."

He let out a long sigh and got up, "Dawn, can I help in anyway." He headed for the kitchen.

"Be careful what you say about her, Jackie likes her a lot. I know she doesn't sleep well, mom found her up at 2:00 am sitting on the front steps like Jack used to. She talked to mom all night, even cried from what she told me. After she went back to bed mom called me all upset. She said one child had missed out on her love, but Jack would help her now. Mom accepted her and so should we, just try to be gentle, remember how Jack was. Just remember she is a girl, like Jack, but a girl." Jerry got up when everyone came in with food. Spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs, salad and garlic bread.

Danniella and Amelia came running in, "Daddy, look what Dawn brought us." They were holding up teddy bears with New York Ranger jerseys on them. "She said they play hockey like you, Uncle Bobby, Uncle Angel and Uncle Jack do." They sat their bears in chairs and then sat down themselves to eat.

"So, Dawn, do you like hockey?" Bobby asked between bites.

"Yes, hockey is fun to watch, but more fun to play." She gave Bobby a wicked smile.

"You are putting yourself in an awkward situation, you do know that Bobby plays professional hockey himself, when he isn't suspended." Angel was trying to get something going.

Dawn gave Angel a 'duh' look, "I know, the "Michigan Mauler", I even saw him play against the Rangers once. He got some bogus calls on him, but I don't ref so I don't know nothin'."

"Oh please don't inflate his ego anymore than it already is." Jack said smiling

Dawn finally stood up to start clearing the table, "Oh no, not in this house." Jack stood up and with his one good hand, started gathering dishes, "If you cook, you don't clear. We will." He looked at the guys, who stood up and followed his lead.

"How did you do that? They always grumble and groan when I ask for help." Camille was surprised at the way the guys acted.

"I don't know, Jack even does this back home. I just figured that ma taught him well."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, fire away."

"Why do you call Evelyn, mom? I mean I know why I do, but why do you?"

The guys were about to come back in, when they heard Camille ask the question. They looked at Jack quizzically, he just shrugged.

"I call her ma, because she told me to. Well, she told me I could if I wanted to. I talked to her for a long time, she asked about my mother, I told her she died when I was 6. After that it was just my dad and I until I was 11, that's when they took me away. So she said she wished she could have helped me." Dawn put her head down, sniffled and wiped away a tear. "So when she told me I could call her mom, I instantly cared for her. I didn't get the chance that the Mercer boys got, but she was giving me that chance. I saw something in her eyes, my biological mother is dead and my father is a bastard, but Evelyn cared for me. That's why I call her mom." Camille leaned over and put her hand on Dawn's to signal everything was ok.

"Man, Jackie, did you know that she was so fucked up?" Bobby said looking at Jack

Jack pushed him hard, "We are all fucked up, but we had ma and each other to help us deal, she didn't have anyone. She did it all on her own." Putting his finger in Bobby's face, "I am warning you, don't upset her." He walked into the dining room and put his hand on her shoulder. She laid her cheek on his hand; he could feel that her cheek was damp.

Jerry gave Bobby a look, "What? I didn't do anything?"

"Just, for once, listen to what your little brother says. Don't upset her and you won't upset him." Jerry went into the dining room.

By now Jack was sitting down and holding Dawn's hand. You could see how comfortable the two of them were together.

"Camille, we should get going, the girls look tired." They were curled up on the couch with the bears, dozing.

Dawn got up, hugged Camille and Jerry, "Thank you for coming, see ya soon."

After Camille and Jerry left and the dishes were done, they were sitting with the fire roaring, watching TV. A commercial came on and Jack turned to Dawn, "So how are the guys?"

"They're fine now that I called them and told them that you would be back wailing on the guitar soon." She smiled and playfully pinched him on the cheek. He couldn't help but laugh, she was always so playful but so much pain behind it. _How did they find each other, two people so screwed up yet they compliment each other so well._

"Don't make me sick my brothers on you." He laughed, and then changed the subject. He seemed to get serious, "So how did you fare with me being away?"

"Ok," he knew she was hiding something.

"What aren't you telling me?" he put his hand on her cheek to turn her face to his.

"Don't get upset, but Ronnie stayed with me while you were gone. You know I hate to be alone."

"He What!" Jack stood up and began to pace. "How dare you, how dare he. He knows how I feel about him being alone with you."

All anyone could see in Jack's eyes was rage. Bobby and Angel hadn't seen that look in years, but why now. "Jackie boy, calm down. Sophie and I fight all the time, but it is worth this or that look." "Plus you are scaring your girl and she doesn't look good."

Bobby was getting up to go to her side. The color had drained out of her face and she was staring at the picture of Evelyn Mercer that hung on the wall. Jack stopped, "Oh my god, Dawn, I'm sorry. I'm ranting. Ronnie didn't touch you did he?"

"Why do you have to assume? No, he didn't touch me, other than to hold me when the nights got really bad. He cares about you and me, so he wouldn't do anything to hurt either one of us."

Jack sat down to put his arm around her and she moved away. She hadn't seen him angry like this in a long time. Jack leaned back on the couch and sighed. He was close to tears, but he didn't want to cry, he said, "I am fine now. Please believe that I'm sorry. When I get better we can go back to New York. Hell, I'll even apologize to Ronnie, even though he doesn't know what I said."

"I'm not going back." Jack turned his head, "What did you say?"

"I said, I'm not going back, I can't"

She got up off of the couch, "I'm going to get a shower before I go to bed, if that is ok with everyone." She looked around the room.

No one objected so she climbed the stairs and shortly they heard the shower.

**Disclaimer:**

**This is my first story, so please tell me what you think. I have many more chapters already written, but I wanted to see what you thought before I post them.**

**I don't own anything, except the characters that I made up.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the update I promised, if I get some reviews quickly I might be able to update again before the end of the weekend. Plus, Thank You to everyone who sent me a review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the movie, only the stuff I made up.**

Chapter 2

"What did she mean she wasn't going back to New York?"

"Little brother, why are you asking us? We don't know this girl like you do, but there has to be something about her if you and ma trust her." Bobby said doing his best to console his brother. He couldn't do it like when he was little, then he would pull Jack into his lap, but now he was to big for that.

A couple of hours had gone by and the guys were locking up, when all of a sudden they heard a shrill scream from upstairs. They all stopped dead in their tracks, until they heard Dawn yell Jack's name. All three of them ran up the stairs, Jack had to lag back; he didn't have the balance with only one arm.

Bobby made it to the room first, what he saw stopped him in his tracks. Dawn was cowering in the corner of the bed screaming, crying and fighting off an invisible attacker. He didn't know how to handle this, with Jack he would have restrained his arms and rocked him till he calmed down, but Jerry's words rang in his ears, remember she's a girl.

Jack ran passed him and stopped for a second. He waited for an opening, sat down in front of her and wrapped his arm around her. It was hard to hold on to her with only one arm, so he took his arm out of the sling. He put his good hand up to Bobby and Angel, he knew they would protest. He finally got both arms around her, he was talking to her softly and she finally calmed down enough for Jack to lay her down. She wouldn't relax enough to let go of his hand. "Bobby, Angel help me get the sling back on", he whispered not wanting to wake her.

They cam in the room and helped him get the sling on and get Dawn situated so he could lay down also. "I don't know how you guys did it with me for so long."

"When you care about someone, really care about someone, you do what you have to do."

They leaned down, kissed his forehead, and touched her shoulder; as they went off to bed.

Bobby fell asleep with one thought in his head, 'Jack is growing up. The way he held her to calm her down, remembering to speak softly. Is he in love, is there a possibility Jack someone he can love? Will she love him back? Is she going to be good to him? She better be, I don't hit girls but for Jackie I would make the exception.' He slowly dozed and to anyone who would have seen him would have seen a slight smile on his face.

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Bobby rolled over to look at the clock, 3 am. Had he just heard the front door open? He was sleeping well, but light since he got home. He got up, pulled on his sweatpants and robe, and then went downstairs quietly. He didn't know what he would find. He made a full sweep of the downstairs, nothing. He checked the front door, it was unlocked, 'Had Jack

gone out.' He opened the door a crack and peeked out. He spotted Dawn sitting on the steps in Jack's leather jacket, smoking a cigarette. Jerry said mom had found her sitting outside just like Jack used to do. 'God, they are a lot alike', he thought.

She heard the door creak and turned to see who is was, she knew it wouldn't be Jack he was sound asleep. She made sure not to wake him when she came down. She saw Bobby peering out the crack, "If you're coming out, then come."

She turned back toward the deserted street. He made his way out and sat on the opposite side of the step, after what he saw earlier he really didn't want to spook her. "Don't sleep well?" Bobby said with genuine concern. He felt like he was reliving Jack all over.

"Haven't in along time, to much pain."

"Jackie still sleeping?"

"He can sleep through a lot." Dawn thought this conversation is dull, 'He is only taking to make conversation.' But would she be comfortable with anything else? She knew that they wouldn't hurt her and they had pain of their own from the past, Jack had told him so with no details. She didn't expect any different, he is loyal to his brothers.

"You had a rough childhood?"

"No worse than you." She looked at Bobby with nothing in her eyes, dead eyes. Her eyes were beautiful light brown, he saw what his mother saw. She was wounded deeply, but what or who had hurt her? He was remembering the conversation she had with Camille, her mother was dead, taken away from dad at 11, and she called him a bastard. It was him, 'Fuck, why didn't I see it.'

"How do you feel about, Jack?" Bobby said bluntly.

"Not forward are we?" She giggled, "I care about him deeply."

"But do you love him?"

"I don't know, I have never really had anyone love me other than my mother and I can't even remember what she looks like. So how can I say I love someone if I'm not really sure how it feels?"

Talking about love and Jack, Bobby noticed that her eyes changed. They got softer, even kinder in a way, "You do care about him." He sounded shocked.

"What is that supposed to mean? No one can care about him but you? You are an ignorant, son of a …….." She was cut short when the door opened.

It was Angel, "Jack is at it again."

Dawn got up and was up the stairs before Bobby and Angel could blink. They ran up after her. When they got to the room, Dawn was sitting with her back against the headboard, cradling Jack with his head on the chest. He was whimpering and gripping her upper arm tightly. She was humming a song softly to him, while stroking his hair. She looked up at Bobby and Angel, "I'm sorry." She said softly.

Bobby nodded. He had been called worse.

She motioned for them to come in, "I think he might have pulled out some stitches, I'll keep him calm if you could check."

She looked at them with concern, like ma would. She held onto him while Angel held his arm down, and Bobby pulled off the tape and the gauze. When they knew he was going to stay calm Angel went to get a cool washcloth to clean up the dried blood.

Bobby stroked Jack's hair, "I believe now that you are good for him. He would have put up a fight, you know, he tries to be independent. He has been like that since he was young."

Angel had returned and Bobby put the cloth on the wound, Jack jumped and smacked Bobby with his good hand.

"Holy shit!" Bobby sat up,"I don't get any appreciation in this house."

"You hurt me, ass. What did you expect?"

Bobby threw the cloth at Jack, missed and hit Dawn right in the face. She shrieked, because the cloth was cold and she didn't expect it. Jack and Angel laughed. Dawn moved Jack, jumped on Bobby and punched him as hard as she could in the arm, then knelt next to the bed.

"Ow! You don't hit like a girl, are sure you're a girl. Jack you'd know, is she a girl?"

"She doesn't kiss like any guy I've ever kissed." He playfully pushed Dawn by the shoulder, she fell backwards into Bobby.

Angel laughed and started to tickle both Dawn and Bobby. The two of them laughed and rolled around, trying to escape Angel. Dawn finally rolled over and went back over to Jack, who was smiling like the cat that ate the canary, "And what are you smiling at?"

"It makes me happy to see all of my family getting along so well."

"I'm glad you're happy, now can I clean your wound or do I sick Angel on you?"

Angel laughed and started to approach the bed.

"No, you wouldn't do that to a sick person?" Angel nodded, "Ok, clean it."

She put the cloth on his wound and started to wipe it slowly. After a short while, she was satisfied that all the stitches were intact. She gave Bobby and Angel a thumbs up, since they had been sitting patiently, waiting to see how Jack was. They said goodnight and went to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 up and running. I am getting a good response with reviews, so keep them coming. Make sure you are honest, please tell me if you don't like something.**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own anything, but the characters that I created.**

Chapter 3

The next morning all the boys woke up to the smell of cinnamon and fresh coffee. The all filed out into the hallway, "What is that smell?"

Jack smiled, "Dawn is cooking French toast, sausage and fresh coffee." He took off downstairs, the other two followed.

They were moving so fast they almost fell over top of each other. When they finally made it to the dining room all the food was on the table. Jack was right, there was a heaping plate of french toast, sausage links and fresh coffe. The was enough food to feed an army.

"Ma said that all her boys had a really hearty appetite." Dawn came in smiling, carrying a container of maple syrup, "Eat up before it gets cold."

They sat, ate and talked, the only thing missing was ma, but they all knew she would be happy the way they were. They finished and all of them pitched in to do the dishes and clean the kitchen.

"By the way, Jack, the doctor called earlier and said you could take your sling off. He said using your arm is good, but don't over do it." She gave him a look as if to say how much merit are you going to put in the doctor's words.

"He won't use it to much, we'll make sure of that." Bobby and Angel said in unison.

They walked by Dawn and Jack, at the same time they gave her a kiss on her cheek. She blushed. "Thanks, breakfast was really good. It's like having ma back. None of us cook that good."

"Ya, I thought my Jackie was losing weight."

Bobby turned as he left the room, "Hockey in an hour, be there or be a ref."

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An hour and a half later

The four guys and Dawn were walking toward the rink. As they went by they picked up Jerry. When they got to the rink, Jack was told that he couldn't play because of his arm.

"We're going to be playing down a man, so I want to see hard skating and fast sticks.", Bobby told Jerry and Angel.

From behind, Bobby heard Dawn, "So what am I chopped liver."

"I don't think that you can handle the way we play." Bobby smirked.

Dawn gave Jack a sideward glance, "You don't mink if I play, do you dear?"

"Just don't hurt my brothers." He laughed.

Dawn went out on the ice and started skating around. After a few minutes the guys came out on the ice and so did their opponents. "Hey Bobby, that's not Jack. Is that a girl?"

Dawn pulled her hoodie out and looked down the front, "Ya, I'm a girl, got boobs and everything." She smiled and skated around in a circle.

"Why, Don, afraid the girl might beat you?" Bobby had known Don for a long time, but also knew he was a sexist. At 5'8 he was at a disadvantage, all the guys were 5'10 or taller.

"I wouldn't want to hurt her and send her home crying to her mommy." He laughed sinically.

Dawn skated over to look Don in the eyes, "My mommies are dead and you're an ugly fuck. So are we going to play or are you going to set out tea?" She slapped him in the leg with her stick and gave him the bring it sign. He smiled wickedly and brought it.

After playing hard for about an hour, everyone was tired and bruised. Don's group came over to sit with the Mercers.

"Not bad, where did you learn how to play so well?" Don asked Dawn.

"Had a lot of foster brothers who liked to think of inventive ways to beat on me without getting in trouble." She was nursing a bruise on her cheek. She touched it and winced.

"Sorry about that." Don looked like he actually meant it.

"Are you getting soft on me? Are you turning into a girly man?" Dawn laughed and moved fast enough to get out of the way of a swing.

Bobby stood up, "Don, you and I have been friends for a long time, but you don't mess with a Mercer off the ice unless you want to mess with us all."

Dawn's eyes were wide as she stared at Bobby. Eddie spoke up, one of the guys skating with Don, "So she isn't your sister, who is she?

"If you must know she's with Jack." Angel said gruffly.

"But I thought Jack was a faggit?"

At that, Dawn approached him with curiousity in her eyes, "What do you mean faggit?"

Jack and the rest of the guys sat down, but were ready to pounce at any second.

"Faggit, gay, what word don't you understand?" Eddie came down to her size, being as he was 6'1.

"What makes you think that Jack is gay?"

"He hasn't ever had a girl around here and I haven't heard about him even being with a girl."

"Well," she put her hand under her chin and made it look like she was thinking, "No women around here woman enough to take on Jackie." She turned and winked at Jack, "Unless of course you were hoping he is gay. Maybe that's why you didn't want me to play, you wanted to watch his ass."

Eddie was getting furious, his face was turning red with anger. Plus it didn't help that the other guys were laughing and pointing at him. "You're a bitch."

"Ya, tell me something I didn't already know." Dawn smiled, knowing she was making him angry.

Eddie turned away and started across the ice, "Whore!"

Dawn took off after him, ran and jumped on his back; knocking him face first into the ice. She started punching him in the back of the head. Eddie rolled over and pushed her off. She fell backwards and hit her head on the ice, hard. He jumped on top of her and pinned her to the ice, "I was wrong, you're a crazy whore!"

Dawn continued to fight under him. When out of no where she screamed wildly and bit him. Eddie yelled and smacked her across the face, before she could react Eddie was tackled from the side. All the guys were now on the ice.

Dawn tried to scurry away, when she realized she couldn't, she curled up into a ball. Jack had tackled Eddie and was finishing pummeling him. He sat up on the ice and pushed Eddie one last time. Bobby came over to help him off the ice, "I told you, Eddie, never mess with a Mercer. Ma wanted her to be one and now she is. She kicked your ass."

Eddie sat up, face bloody, "She doesn't look to harmful now." He pointed to the ball on the ice. Jack and Bobby ran and slid over to Dawn, the other guys were already there. They couldn't touch her because every time they did she screamed. The Mercers all looked at each other, they looked like they were having a combined flashback.

_A scared little boy curled up into a ball, yelling for ma. He had gotten scared by a bigger boy and they didn't know what to do. When ma got home from work, she ran to him and cradled him in her arms till he fell asleep._

Jack tried to touch her, she flinched. All she kept saying was, "Please don't hurt he anymore, daddy. I'll be good, just please don't hurt me." Everyone saw tears start to well up in Jack's eyes.

"It's ok, man. We'll all get through this." Jerry put his hand on Jack's shoulder.

Jack laid down on the ice next to her, "Dawn, please look at me. It's Jack. Just look at me." He touched her hair, "I need you to look at me. Your dad's not here and we won't let him hurt you anymore."

She slowly looked at him. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from crying, she had a big bruise from hockey and a red handprint where Eddie smacked her. Jack saw red when he saw the handprint. He looked at Don, if looks could kill he would have been dead. "On that note, we'll be leaving. Good luck, guys."

"Jackie, please help me." Se said quietly.

The other guys knelt down next to her. "We'll all try to help, if that is ok?" Jerry said with Bobby and Angel nodding behind him.

She started to sit up, "Did you mean what you said earlier about me being a Mercer?" She was sitting snuggled into Jack's chest, wiping the tears off her face.

"Of course I did. Jerry told us ma loved you and was upset when she heard your story. She would have taken you in if she could, I know that." They all shared a group hug.

Dawn smiled, "I never really had a family and this is the best family I could've ever asked for." She stood up with Jack's help, "So how is your arm, sweetie?"

"It hurts a little bit, but your worth the pain." He smiled and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

Bobby noticed how Dawn switched moods so easily. It bothered him because he knew he was the same way, 'Damn, she is really good at hiding whatever pain she has inside. Sometime it is going to make her explode, kill her or maybe, just maybe, we could get her to talk about it. We have all had our share of pain, some more than others, but talking does help. To bad ma isn't here she was good at this.'

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When they got home, Dawn went upstairs to get a shower. None of the guys protested, she needed one after what she had been through. The guys all go some hot chocolate and sat in the living room, "So how well do you know this girl?" Angel asked.

"Well enough, let's not go through this again." Jack was being defensive. He hadn't seen Dawn hurt like this in a long time and it bothered him.

"So are you having sex, I mean you sleep in the same bed. If you are, do you use protection?" Bobby decided now was as good a time as any to ask.

"I don't think that is any of your business and since when did you become a health teacher?"

Angel ran his hand over his head, "We just want to make sure that you are safe and all."

Of all people, Angel didn't look comfortable talking to Jack about sex.

"No, we aren't having sex, it hasn't happened, it hasn't come up!" His voice was angry, but he was still blushing.

As if on cue, Dawn walked by wearing one of Jack's oversized shirt and tube socks pushed down. She walked toward the kitchen, all the guys turned and looked at her walk by.

"Are you telling me that seeing her like that doesn't do anything for you?" Angel was smiling slyly.

"A little tingle, but I can't push it." He looked at them knowingly, "You guys didn't push me to hug you or trust you, so what makes you think I would push her? You saw the way she freaked out."

All of a sudden they heard a crash in the kitchen and a lot of yelling. They went to see what was going on. When they got there, they found Dawn and Sophie rolling around on the floor. Sophie looked up long enough to yell, "Get this bitch off of me."

Jack and Bobby grabbed Dawn by the waist and hauled her off of Sophie, while Angel restrained Sophie.

"Let me go, damn it!" Dawn was yelling and fighting to no avail to get away.

Sophie was bitching to Angel about how Dawn attacked her, "I didn't do anything, she just attacked me." She was crying to Angel.

"You lying bitch!" Dawn had calmed down enough to hear what Sophie was saying.

"So what exactly happened?" Bobby was smiling. Thinking how ma would love to have two girls fighting for a change.

"I was making a cup of coffee and this psycho bitch came in. She asked me who I was, I told her I was Jack's girlfriend and she called me a liar. So I told her again slowly. She smacked me and told me Angel was hers. I told her Angel was good looking, but he isn't my type. Then she called me a slut for walking around like this." She pulled on the shirt and stood with one knee bent, hands on her hips, "When she called me a slut, I punched her in the face and she jumped on me. Like I said Crazy Bitch!" She went to move and Bobby stood in front of her, waving his finger.

Angel looked at Sophie, "Is this true? Did you attack her or did she attack you?"

"Well, what is she doing walking around like that in front of all you guys? Slut!"

Dawn jumped and Bobby caught her, "No more." He looked sternly at Dawn, she looked down at the floor, "Ok, Bobby." "Crazy bitch!" She said under her breath.

"Did you hear the Angel? She won't stop."

"Well, you are acting like a crazy bitch." She went to smack him and he caught her hand, "Don't!"

She started ranting in Spanish. Bobby rolled his eyes, "Ok, la vida loca, we'll settle this now. She is Jack's girlfriend, if she hit you you deserved it and if you're worried about her dressing like this, then you aren't secure in your womanhood or your relationship with Angel."

Sophie gave him the finger.

"That ends that, so let's go watch the game." He smiled at Dawn, "The Rangers are playing."

She hooted, grabbed her coffee and headed for the living room, sticking her tongue out at Sophie on her way by.

"Why do you have to do that?" Angel said to her back.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't know when the next time is I will be posting, I ran into a snag with the storyline. I will work it out shortly. Keep reviewing, I really appreciate it. Thank you to all the people who have already read and reviewed it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the stuff that I made up.**

Chapter 4

Jack was sitting with a smile on his face. Dawn and Bobby had been arguing over the game and ref calls for an hour. He was so happy his family liked her, but he couldn't help but think of what Bobby and Angel had said earlier. 'I do love her, but have I ever told her? Does she know what love is? I didn't till I came here, till mom and my brothers showed me what love is, I will show her. If ma was here it would be easier. I could ask Sophie, but she has been shooting daggers at Dawn all night. Maybe I will talk to Bobby about it, he might be able to help.'

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About a week had gone by since Dawn's arrival, Jack was calling Bobby's name. Just like when they were kids, Bobby sat at the kitchen table. He wouldn't answer, he would sit there until Jack found him. The house was small so it shouldn't take long.

"There you are." Jack walked in the kitchen.

"Why, were you looking for me?" he smiled.

"Yes, I want to ask you a question." Jack sat down at the table across from Bobby, "I want to ask you a question about Dawn."

"Shoot." Bobby leaned his arms on the table, he was interested in this conversation.

"Do you like her?"

"Like a sister, yes. Why?"

"Does Angel like her?"

"Yes and before you ask, Sophie is slowly warming up to her, would you like to get to the point?"

"Ok, I am fairly sure that I love her, but I don't think I have ever told her. I'm not sure I know how to show or tell her. Can you help?"

"I don't know, you're fairly sure you love her. Do you or don't you? Not that I am one to talk with my past I might not be the one to talk to."

Jack remembered the story, _Bobby had strong feelings, some would say love, for a girl in one of his foster homes. One night the father was drunk and went out of control. He started beating on everyone, Bobby took the blunt of most of it. When he hit the floor, she came in to try and help him. Father started smacking her around. After a few minutes he was sick of her, so he picked her up and threw her against the wall. She died instantly. _

They all knew that is why he doesn't hit girls and he will kill anyone who does.

"I love her and I need help."

Bobby leaned back in the chair, thinking, "I would say do something special for her. Take her to a movie, make her dinner, cuddle in front of the fireplace, use your imagination."

Jack comteplated this for a moment, got up and gave Bobby a hug, "Thanks man."

Bobby tossled his hair, "Ok, fairy, go woe you girl and let me get back to my paper."

Jack ran upstairs, Bobby hadn't seen Jack this happy since before Ma…… His thought was cut short by Angel and Sophie coming in the backdoor. Sophie was all over Angel, as usual Bobby thought. He tried to stay quiet, maybe they wouldn't notice that he was there.

"Hey, Bobby," Sophie said in her thick spanish accent.

"You will not believe what we just saw." Angel said with a look that said even if Bobby didn't say a word he would tell him. He just stared at him, it only took a few seconds and Angel was ready to explode, "Sophie and I went down to Roadies to have a drink and you won't believe who was there slinging drinks."

Bobby went to open his mouth, but Angel cut him off, "Little sister!"

Bobby sat dumbfounded. He heard Jack coming down the stairs. He threw Angel and Sophie a 'Shut Up' look.

"Bobby was that…. Oh, hi guys."

"Jackie, do you know where Dawn is?"

"She said something about going to work. She said she wasn't going to stay here without paying her way."

"Do you know where she is working?"

"No, she wouldn't tell me, something about getting comfortable. Why?"

"I think you had better get your coat."

Bobby and Jack got their coats and followed Angel and Sophie. In a few minutes, they were standing in front of Roadies, not a very nice bar, pretty rough at times. All the brothers had had their share of fight here.

"What are we doing here?" Jack asked feeling and looking confused.

"It's inside." Bobby lead him in by his shoulders, while the other two followed.

They found four seats at the bar and ordered their usual. It took about ten minutes, before they saw what they came to see. Dawn rushed past the bar in a mid-thigh, mini skirt, black, sports bra with a white, dress shirt opened and knotted right below the bra. She was serving drinks to a table of men in their forties.

Rage flared in Jack's eyes, he moved off the stool so fast Bobby couldn't even grab him. He went over to her and grabbed her by the top of her arm. Bobby and Angel only got up after they saw the look on her face. Angel turned to the bartender, "Dave, Dawn is on her break!" The bartender just nodded.

Bobby went to get Jack, Angel was waiting and hoping that someone would try to stop them. The Mercers had a reputation for settling things with their fists. Some looks, but definitely no takers today.

They all went out front of the bar. Jack was walking in circles trying to calm down, "I was going to surprise her with a candle lit dinner. I was going to tell her that I love her."

Dawn was shocked. "I love her, damn it. Why can't she see that?" He was talking to no one.

Bobby gave Dawn his jacket, not liking one bit what she was wearing. "Bobby, how can I stop him?" She looked at him like he always had the answers.

"I don't know, I'm just a spectator."

"Screw you!"

She made her way over to Jack, putting her hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her, "I love you, but this is not the way I wanted to tell you. How can you dress like that?"

"It is only a job, Jackie. I can't live with you guys, in ma's house and not pay my way. This is the only thing I am good at."

"But you don't have to do this, my arm is getting better. We could go back to New York, I can start playing again." Jack was stroking her hair.

"I told you I am not going back."

They could all see that she was trying to stay calm, but only Jack knew to get any answers out of her he had to do one thing he didn't like doing. He had to piss her off, "I know, but you didn't tell me why."

He turned her to face him, he held onto her arms, "I don't want to talk about it."  
She tried to wiggle out of his grip, but couldn't. Bobby would have said something, bu he could see Jack was restraining, not hurting.

"You're hurting me, please let go." She whimpered.

"Not until you talk to me. Answer my question." He was sounding more stern now.

She looked him square in the eyes, "Let me go!" She sounded on the brink of freaking out.

"Tell me!" Jack yelled just as loud.

Some patrons had come out to see why they were yelling, but Bobby and Angel sent them back in with one look.

She yelled back, "You really want to know, he was there. He found me. Almost killed Ronnie for trying to help me."

He let her go, it looked like an electrical shock had gone through him. She ran over to Bobby and Angel, like she needed protection from Jack. He looked at her standing between them, "Him!"

"You had to push, I was comfortable here. I don't think he will find me, but if he does I won't let him hurt you. Now, I am going back to work." She gave Bobby his jacket. "I'll see you at home when my shift is done."

She stormed back inside, turning once to look back at Jack. All he saw was fear, a look he knew all to well.

He walked right past Bobby, Angel and Sophie. Sophie kissed Angel telling him she would see him later and to take care of Jack. Angel and Bobby ran to catch up with Jack, he was moving pretty fast. When they reached him, Angel was out of breath, but said, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but I really hated doing that." He put his head down and started walking slower.

"You had to get her to tell you, but who is 'Him'?" Bobby asked also remembering the look in Dawn's eyes as she walked away.

Jack stopped short and looked at Bobby, "Her father."

"I assumed he was dead. She said he was a bastard and that was all."

Jack gave Bobby a 'duh' look, "She doesn't talk about him any more than we talk about our dads." He turned and continued to walk. Angel and Bobby felt bad, but they knew they had to get to the bottom of this if they were going to help him and Dawn.

Four hours had passed and Jack was getting antsy, "Where is she? Maybe she's hurt? Should we go look for her?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea from what you told me. She may not have the Mercer name, but she sounds like she Bobby's temper." They had called Jerry when they go home, he is the logical one.

"But what if something….."

Dawn walked in the door, looked in the living room and went to the kitchen to put down the pizza she brought home. The guys followed her, "I see what you mean about the outfit, but little sister can work it."

Jack turned and stared at Jerry, he held up his hand to show Jack his wedding band, "Married, not dead." Jack sighed and went in the kitchen.

Dawn was sitting down, eating pizza and there were four more plates on the table, all had a beer in front of them. Everyone sat down and prepared their plates. Dawn turned to Bobby, "Since you are the oldest, I guess this is your house now, this is for you." She handed him some bills, there was $100.00.

"What is this?"

"Money, stupid. To be exact it's my tips."

"I know that, for what?"

"Bills, food, whatever."

"I can't take it and won't take it." He handed it back to her.

She wouldn't take it, "I told you I won't stay here and not help, no matter what anyone says or does." She stared a hole through Jack's head.

Dawn finished her pizza and got up, "I'm going to get a shower and change into some comfortable clothes. If that is ok?" No one said anything, Jack didn't even look up from his plate. She left the room.

Jack finally looked up, "What was that all about?"

"That is called the cold shoulder, get used to it women use it all the time, especially when they are pissed off and most definitely don't want to talk to you." Angel sounded like he was talking from experience.

"Does it ever stop?" Jack asked.

"Only when she wants it to." Angel turned to Bobby, "How much did she give you?"

"A hundred dollars."

"What do you do to make those kind of tips?" Jerry leaned over and smacked Angel in the head, then pointed to Jack who had his head in his hands.

Jerry put his hand on his shoulder, "Man, it's ok. She really cares about you, you can see that. She's just mad that the one person who counts the most doesn't see that." He gave Jack a knowing look.

Jack rolled his eyes, "So how long do I wait?"

"As long as it takes. Mom told me once when Camille and I were fighting, she said if she loves you she will see past the anger and hurt and forgive you. It may take a while, but it will happen. She loves you she just doesn't know it yet." Jerry smiled thinking of how good it was to see Jack in love with someone who loved him back.

They cleaned up the kitchen and retired to the living room. After a while, Dawn came downstairs looking like herself again, t-shirt and sweats with socks. She sat down on the couch and looked at Bobby and Angel, "Sorry about today, it isn't your fault what happened. I just wasn't sure if I wanted you to know what happened."

"What did happen, you can tell us." Angel said.

Bobby leaned forward in his chair, "We all have bad things in our past, but you can't fight it or get over it if you don't talk about it. No pressure though." Bobby looked at Jack, "Jackie, are you ok with hearing this?"

"I'm not a child, Bobby. I can handle more than you think." He hated it when Bobby and Angel saw the little boy he once was, "Are you sure you want to do this?" He turned to look at Dawn, not sure but hoping she would answer.

"I can do this, I need to tell you guys. I need to tell someone. I am sick of being afraid, it is eating a hole in my soul. I can't do it anymore. The look on his face when he saw me." She leaned back against the couch, "I'll start from the beginning, my mom died when I was six, I loved her so much, anyway, after she died everything was good for awhile. Then the stress got to my dad, I guess, because he started to drink. A little at first, then a lot. I tried to be good, but sometimes I would do something wrong and he would hit me." She closed her eyes and flinched like it was happening right then.

Jack put his arm around her shoulder, she took his hand in hers and went on. Staring at the picture of Evelyn Mercer that hung on the wall, "I would break a dish, yell, sometimes not want to go to bed and he would hit me."

She turned sideways and pulled the arm of her t-shirt down to reveal her left shoulder, there was a white, jagged scar, "Belt buckle, he was so drunk he grabbed the wrong end and swung."

All the guys were forming and unforming fists. She started again, "One night I think I was about eight, he came into my room at night, I thought here we go again, this time it was different. He touched my cheek and my hair and to miss the details he raped me for the first time. It continued for three years off and on. He would alternate between beating me and raping me. One day I went to school and fell in gym, I went to the nurse and she saw all the bruises on my back, legs, stomach and I didn't see him after that. I started in the system that day." She got up, "I need a cigarette, Jackie?" He got up and went out on the porch with her.

"I would love to get my hands on that son of a bitch." Bobby got up and started to pace.

"Bobby, you need to calm down. She is pouring out all her pain. She didn't take her eyes off of the picture of ma, like she looks to her for strength. If we want to help her, we have to be her strength." said Jerry.

Ten minutes later, Jack and Dawn came back in, "Are you sure you want to go on?"

"If you can handle it, I can." Dawn smiled and sat down.

Jack sat down next to her and put his arm around her, pulling her into his chest. She kissed his cheek and continued, "My first home was ok, but they didn't want someone as old as I was. Three more homes, more beatings, no one could deal with me. I was quiet, cried, nightmares and sometimes I was violent. The last real home I was in I was thirteen, they had two kids of their own and two foster boys. The girl, that was theirs, didn't like me. I was young and cute. She was jealous, thinking I wanted the guys' attention, I just wanted them to stay away. These are the boys who taught me how to play hockey, it was easy to beat me down and not get in trouble. But it also taught me how to fight back and they didn't like that. Megan, the daughter, would be responsible for me and turn her back when it happened. The boys decided since I would fight back, they would up the stakes. They would take turns holding me down and raping me. I meant nothing to them. When I turned fifteen I ran away and never looked back. I worked as a hooker and was on every drug known to man. I never felt anything when I was high, I could do anything and did."

"Then a man named Dave Snyder found me on the street and told me I was beautiful and could do better. I didn't believe him, but went anyway. He came through for me, cleaned me up, got me a job, he was my guardian angel. Not to long, maybe a year and a half, after that I met Jack. I saw something in his eyes, the same thing I saw in ma's eyes."

She stopped to wipe her eyes, leaned her head on Jack's chest. She was breathing like she had just run ten-miles, "I have to finish this, Jack was here, Ronnie was at the apartment. I was in the shower and heard a knock at the door, but ignored it I figured it was the guys getting ready for the gig they were playing that night. Then I heard yelling, I got out and put my robe on. When I got in the living room, my father was on top of Ronnie punching him in the face, "Where is she, where is she!" he was saying. Ronnie was not saying a word until he say me, he yelled for me to run. My father turned and saw me, smiled, I saw the same look in his eyes that I remembered. He got up, I ran to Mrs. Gianni's apartment and banged on the door. She let me in and slammed the door, I told her to lock it, she did. While I stayed by the door, she called 911. When I heard the cops taking him away, I came out. He yelled he would get me, he would find me wherever I was. I checked on Ronnie, he was ok, he told me to pack a bag and go to Jack, he would keep me safe. That's when I came here. Sorry Jack, I should have told you the truth when I got here."

"That's ok, I know now. I wish we could have helped you sooner." He kissed her on the forehead.

Jerry got up, "I've got to go home and kiss my kids. See you soon and welcome to one fucked up , but loving family." He leaned down and kissed Dawn on her forehead, waved to the others and left.

Dawn went to clean up her face shortly after Jerry left.

"How screwed up is that? No wonder mom was so upset when she got done talking to her. She saved us from the streets, from the hard drugs, but not her." Bobby shook his head.

"Bobby, Angel, we have to keep her safe, you heard Jerry, she is part of the Mercer family now."

Angel nodded his head, "Of course, we all take care of each other, if not who would."

Dawn came downstairs, "Guys can I talk to Jack alone?" Bobby and Angel got up and left the living room.

She asked Jack to sit down, he did. She sat down next to him, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you where I was working, I thought you wouldn't mind, but I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry, Jack, I really am, but it is the only thing I know."

"But I don't like seeing you in that outfit, it makes you look like a," he couldn't say it.

"Makes me look like a what? Jack tell me."

"Sorry, but it makes you look like a slut. I know you hate being called that, now I know why."

"Do you think I'm a slut, I mean we have never had sex, so do you think I am one?"

"No I don't. I saw the way those guys looked at you. I guess it made me jealous. They looked at you like you were a piece of meat. It really pissed me off."

"Your were jealous, really? I don't think anyone has ever been jealous when I was with them." She leaned forward and touched her lips softly to his.

He kissed her back, "Dawn, I love you and I want to show you all the love I can." He leaned forward and pressed his lips slightly harder to hers, she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Can we take it slow, not to slow, but slow?" She asked looking into his eyes.

"As slow as you want, sweetheart."

"I am going to say goodnight to Angel and Bobby and I'm going to bed. I have to work the early shift, if that's ok?" She waited for an answer.

"Only if we can come down and check on you every once in a while."

"Anytime you want, I love having sexy, young hunks watching my back." She winked at him, went into the kitchen, said goodnight to the guys and came back in. Walked up to Jack and threw her arms around him, "I feel safe with you and the guys. I also feel like ma is watching over us too." She kissed him again lovingly and went up to bed. He watched her go up stairs knowing everything would be alright.

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Three months had passed since that night. Dawn was still working at the bar and Jack kept his promise, the guys were at the bar for awhile every night she worked. Not many problems, but some little squirmishs the guys always handled. Tonight was fine, regular routine. There was a regular there named Fred, he was about sixty and lonely. Every night when he came in he ordered a couple of drinks and then would ask her to dance, one dance. She danced with him every time, she enjoyed making him happy, Jack said he was a horny, old man looking for a young piece of ass. He didn't mind, she could tell.

Tonight she was dancing with Fred when the Mercers came in. Bobby laughed when he saw her dancing with Fred. Fred asked her for one more dance, unusual but not strange, so she stayed dancing.

She turned around to go back to work and there he was, standing there looking at her. She turned to Fred and went to say something. He tapped her on the shoulder, "I told you I would find you, a slut always goes where the money is easy. You're coming with me or I will kill you." She could feel cold steel on her side.

"Ok, let me say goodnight to Fred and I will go quietly." She went over to Fred, kissed his cheek and whispered something in his ear. Then she left with the man she used to call Daddy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jack turned from the bar and scanned the floor, "Bobby, Angel, where's Dawn?"

They all looked around, but they saw nothing. Fred was walking over to them, "I've got a message for you from Dawn, but I have to tell you outside."

They all walked outside, "So what's up?" Angel asked.

"Dawn said for me to tell you she had to leave, she loves you all and kiss Jerry's girls for her." Fred went back into the bar.

"What did that mean?" Jack was confused; he didn't like to be confused.

Bobby went back in the bar, when he came out he was red faced and mad as hell, "She was taken out the back by a guy in dirty clothes and he smelled real bad."

"She wouldn't just leave without telling us." Jack was looking up and down the street.

Angel rubbed his head, "And what was with that message, she loves us, kiss the girls, it's like she's not coming back."

"Holy shit your right that is how it sounded! Split up, get everyone we know out there looking for her." Bobby needed to do something. 'If anything happens to her I will never forgive myself.'

They searched everywhere, everyone they knew searched, nothing. When they all arrived home Jack freaked, throwing things, yelling, crying, he was inconsolable. He prayed to his mother for help, which killed Bobby deeply in his soul, to help Dawn. Bobby and Angel tried everything, but they were blaming themselves for it happening. Sophie came in after searching with nothing.

"I swear I will kill whoever did this. I'll make them pay!" Bobby screamed at the top of his lungs.

Bobby went to Jack and held him; it was all he knew how to do. They all slept on the floor in the living room, even Jerry was there for his family.

For three days it was the same routine, search, listen to everyone scream about what to do and where to look, a lot of crying and sleep in the living room together.

Till the third night; everyone was sleeping and the phone rang. Bobby got up to answer it, "Hello?" He looked at the clock, it read 4 am.

"Bobby?" The voice was a whisper.

"Who is this?"

"Bobby, help me."

"Dawn it that you?"

"Help me please!"

"Dawn!" The guys got up and came in to see why Bobby was yelling.

"What's up?" Angel said sleepily.

Bobby jut looked at him, "Dawn where are you?"

"Dawn, it's her, where is she, is she ok?" They were all asking questions at the same time.

"Bobby, NO!" All of a sudden she yelled, the phone dropped and he heard a male voice. What he heard made him instantly turn red and you would swear you could see smoke coming out of his ears.

"What did I tell you about touching that phone, bitch? Now you'll pay!"

"Please don't hurt me anymore. Bobby, Bobby, help me…..!" The phone went dead.

Bobby slammed the phone down and punched the wall, "Whoever has her is hurting her. She screamed my name before the phone went dead. We have to find her; we have to find her now!"

They sat down and thought about it for about a minute.

"What do you mean he was hurting her? What did she say?" Jack's voice cracked as he spoke.

"She asked me to help her, and then the phone went dead. I heard a man." Bobby was having a hard time clearing his head. 'Why is this bothering me so much?'

"The guy called her a bitch, told her she was going to pay for using the phone, she screamed, the phone went dead." He put his head down and quickly wiped a tear away.

Jack was crying, "He's hurting her and we don't know how! We have to find her, but how?"

Jerry picked up the phone and dialed, he waited a minute, "I would like to speak to Officer Banning. Banning, this is Jeremiah Mercer, could you find out where the last call that came into our house was from? Yes, Dawn just called here and we don't know from where. Thank you." He hung up the phone, "Put the coffee on, he is going to call me back."

I took about fifteen minutes for the phone to ring, the longest fifteen minutes anyone for them had ever spent in their lives. They all jumped, Jerry got up to answer it, "Hello, yes, ok, thank you Officer Banning." He turned toward the guys, "They traced it to a motel just outside of town."

Bobby jumped up, "Let's go get that fucker!" He still felt a lump in his throat.

Jerry put his hand up, "Wait, it took them so long to get back to us because they checked it out. They weren't there, they left in a hurry. He said they found some of her clothes and some blood, on her clothes and on the bed."

Jack screamed, a primal scream, he sounded like a wounded animal. He collapsed on the table, Sophie went to him and started rubbing his back. Angel just went over and hugged him, "We will find her." He looked at Bobby, "We will find her, right?"

"Of course we will. As soon as the sun comes up we will go and get the word out that we heard from her and they are on the run. We need all eyes out for them." He was determined to find them and quick. 'If he runs to far, to fast we may never find them. I don't think Jack would come back from this. How will he deal or will he deal?' "Come on, Jackie, why don't you go get a shower so we can leave soon."

Jack looked at him with dead eyes, the same look he had as a child. He looked at you, but he looked through you. He got up and went upstairs.

"We are losing him." Jerry was very concerned.

"We won't let that happen again." Bobby said, the determination on his face was scary and convincing.

When the sun came up, they were ready. They took to the street, telling anyone they saw what was going on. They ran into Don and the guys, "Bobby, what's going on? We have been hearing some weird shit all around town."

"Dawn was taken by her father, you knew that, but we got a phone call from her last night. The cops checked where she called from, but they were gone. Now we're getting the word out to everyone to keep their eyes open for them."

"Ok, we'll continue to spread the word." They shook hands and left.

Over a few hours the four of them had covered all the neighborhoods they hung out in and some they didn't.

"We've done all we can for now." Sounding defeated Jerry looked down at the ground.

Jack looked between all of them, "We have to be able to do more. Don't tell me that's all we can do."

Bobby put his hand on Jack's shoulder, "Come on, we're all tired, ornery and hungry. We need to take a break, everyone knows how to get a hold of us if they hear anything. Let's go home." Bobby steered Jack in the directions of home.

They were a block from home when Jeremiah's cell phone rang. Any other time everyone would have ignored it and kept walking, but tonight they all stopped and listened. "Hello, ya." He looked pissed, "Ok, ok, thanks. Talk to you soon." He nodded, "Chris saw some cops headed toward the motel on Maple, he followed them. He thinks he saw Dawn, but he's not sure. We should go check it out."

They ran the rest of the way home and piled into Bobby's car. They sped to the motel, breaking every speeding record on the way there. When they got there Jack and Angel jumped out and ran toward the police cruiser, leaving Bobby, Jerry and Sophie behind. When they got to the cars Angel found Officer Banning, "So is it them?"

Officer Banning shook his head, "No sorry. Someone called about a woman screaming, after Jerry's call earlier, I figured we should check it out. Just some hooker and her john, he wouldn't pay her."

Jack had zoned out after no, he couldn't figure out why they hadn't found her. Everyone they knew was looking. Angel snapped his fingers in Jack's face and he looked at him, "What?"

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"Home, we need food and sleep."

"Ok." He walked with his shoulders slouched.

They drove home slowly, in the back of all their minds that was going to be the end of their search, when it wasn't they weren't sure what to do. 'How would Jack react? He has been really quiet. Is he ok?' Bobby always attempted to put his younger brother first, but this time he didn't know what to do.

It took them, what seemed like a lifetime to get home, they pulled into the driveway and got out. They went into the house and stopped. The shower was running, "Who left the shower on?" Bobby's voice sounded more angry thaen normal.

"Jack was the last one in." Angel pointed at Jack.

Jack shook his head, "I shut it off, I swear."

Jerry started up the stairs, Bobby grabbed his arm, "You going up unarmed?"

"Yes, I am. Do you really think a burglar would be taking a shower?" He rolled his eyes, pulled away from Bobby and kept going. They all followed him.

They walked slowly and silently toward the bathroom, opened the door and peered inside. There was a figure, not moving, half-sitting in the tub. Bobby pushed past Jerry and approached the tub, "Oh, shit!" He turned, the look on his face was horrific, "It's Dawn, she really looks bad. Jack maybe you shouldn't look."

"I want to see. Is she ok?"

"I don't know, she doesn't look good." He just shook his head.

Jack approached the tub, what he saw sent chills down his spine. Dawn was only wearing her torn, black, sports bra and panties, her face was so swollen he could barely make out where her eyes were and her body was covered in blood and bruises. Dried blood was in her hair and her bare feet were cut bad. Jack reached toward her hair and slowly stroked it. She screamed so loud it echoed through the bathroom. Jack jumped backwards and hit the sink.

Dawn started throwing her hands around in the air. She couldn't see, but she was trying to feel out who touched her, "Please don't hurt me. I will do anything you want, just don't hurt me anymore. I can't take it. Please just kill me." She was quiet for a moment, then started talking quietly, "If I'm quiet he'll leave me alone. Bobby will come. I talked to him, I know he'll come. Jack will, he loves me. I want my family. Please ma, come take me he can't hurt me if I'm with you." She quieted down and fell back to sleep. Everyone backed out of the bathroom.

"What are we going to do?" Jerry asked.

Angel was looking from brother to brother, "She won't let us touch her, she's to scared."

Sophie spoke up, "I think you should try to turn the water off and let her sleep. She may feel different in the morning."

The guys looked at each other and spoke in unison, "Ok, we'll try."

Jerry went back into the bathroom and in one minute the shower was off, he came back out and shook his head, "She started mumbling again. I seriously don't know what we are going to do."

"Tomorrow. We'll deal with this tomorrow. Everyone in bed." Bobby was extremely annoyed and everyone was feeling it.

They all went to their respective rooms, except Jack, "I'm staying in there." He pointed to the bathroom.

"But what if she freaks out." Angel said shocked.

"I won't touch her or the tub. Good night." He went into the bathroom. Everyone else went into their rooms. Bobby slept in the room next to the bathroom in case Jack needed him in the night.

The next morning, they all met in the hallway. "Has anyone tried to go into the bathroom yet?" Bobby wondered.

"No and this might sound insensitive, but I have to pee." Sophie slapped Angel's head, "I told you it might sound insensitive."

"Ok, Angel, you go in first. Be quiet, don't wake Jack and don't, whatever you do, touch the tub." Bobby gave him the evil eye.

Angel did the pee-pee dance, "I won't, no move or you get to clean the rug."

Bobby moved and waited. A couple minutes later Angel came out, " Jack is sleeping soundly and Dawn is now, somewhat, laying in the tub."

They all took turns quietly going to the bathroom, then they went downstairs.

When they were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee, Jack came in, "No problems last night. She mumbled a little and cried a lot. Bobby, what are we going to do? We told her that we wold keep her safe and we didn't. How is she going to feel about us?" He walked over to make a cup of coffee.

"I don't know, Jack, but we have to do something. She can't stay in the bathtub, how clean is that?" Bobby was thinking and speaking at the same time.

They heard a crash, Jerry looked up at the ceiling, "What the hell was that?"

They all went running upstairs, looked in the bathroom and Dawn wasn't there. They looked in Jack's room next, Dawn was sitting on the floor, bleeding from her right wrist and holding an open pocket knife in her left hand.

Jack moved toward her, "What are you doing?"

She held the knife up to his voice, "If I do this you can't hurt me anymore."

The knife started to shake, because her whole arm was shaking.

"Sweetheart, I'm not the one that hurt you. Please don't do this." Jack couldn't stand it, so much pain and she was inflicting more on herself.

She put the blade to her left wrist, pushed down and slowly cut across. She didn't make a sound, but they could see pain on her face.

Jack cried, "Don't hurt yourself!" He jumped forward and grabbed the knife.

Blood was flowing everywhere, Bobby grabbed the pillowcase off the pillow and approached Dawn. He grabbed her arm and tried to put the case around her wrist, she pulled away and blood splattered on the walls.

"For gods sake call 911!" Bobby yelled at the three standing in the doorway.

Jerry nodded and took off downstairs.

"Angel come hold her down so I can get her wrists wrapped!" Bobby yelled as he was struggling with Dawn. He wanted to help her, but he didn't want to hurt her.

She stopped struggling and got quiet; laying limp on the floor. Angel approached slowly, "Is she dead?"

Bobby slapped him in the head, "Shut up, dumb ass." He nodded toward Jack.

"Sorry, Jack."

"It's ok, Angel. I want to help." He crawled over to her side, "What do you want me to do, Bobby?" Jack looked at Bobby.

"Try to keep her calm. She is calm now, but we don't know if she will start again." Bobby slowly lifted her wrists, Angel wrapped her wrists and Jack stroked her hair.

They heard sirens outside, "Good there here. Sophie go help Jerry!" Bobby yelled to Sophie, who had been watching, red eyed, from the doorway.

The EMTs came upstairs with a stretcher and equipment, looked around the room and started checking Dawn over, "How did this happen?"

Bobby answered, handing them the knife, "She cut her wrists with this."

"How long ago?"

"About twenty minutes, she lost a lot of blood."

"Ok, we're going to take her to Mercy Central. You can meet us there." They loaded her on to the stretcher, brought her downstairs and loaded her into the ambulance. The left with sirens and lights blaring.

The guys and Sophie all stood outside the house, watching the ambulance leave. Jack turned to the rest of the guys, "We have to go now, I want to be there."

"Ok, I'll drive." Bobby went into the house to get his keys. When he came out, they loaded up the car and went to the hospital.

When they got there Jack went to the desk and got he information that he needed, "They put her in a room, but they won't tell me anything else." His eyes started to water and Angel put his hand on his shoulder.

Bobby spoke up, "Let's go see how she is doing."

When they got upstairs, they found room 403 and there was a doctor coming out the door. He turned when he came out the door, "If it isn't the Mercer boys. Well, I count four of you so that means none of you are hurt. Is there a reason you are here?"

They all stopped and smiled. Jerry walked forward and offered his hand to the doctor, "Dr. Cedar, nice to see you again. We're all ok, but the EMTs brought a girl named Dawn in and we were wondering how she is doing?"

Dr. Cedar shook Jerry's hand, "Not good. If you don't mind me asking, does she have any family? If she gets worse or tries again we will have to contact them to ask them about restraints."

"Restraints!" Jack yelled

Jerry turned toward him, "Jackie, she tried to kill herself, if she tries again they will have to."

"No, no restraints. She doesn't like being held down. Bobby don't let them do it."

Bobby touched his arm, "We won't let them. Doc is there any other way?"

"I have to speak to her family and they will decide."

Bobby smiled, "You have spoke to them and they have decided, no restraints."

"What do you mean?"

Jack walked over to him, "We are her only family."

Dr. Cedar looked at Jerry, Jack was making him nervous, "Is this true?"

"Yep, she's a Mercer, aren't you so happy."

"She's in there." He pointed to the viewing room behind him, "I'll be back, I want to put the restraint information in her chart." He walked down the hallway mumbling to himself.

They all turned to look in the room. They saw her laying on the bed, curled up into a ball, looking innocent and sweet.

"How could anyone hurt her, she is so sweet and caring." Angel's voice cracked as he spoke.

Sophie put her arm around his waist, "Only a monster." She pulled Angel into a hug, then they went to sit in the waiting room.

Jerry excused himself to call Camille and bring her up to speed. That left Bobby and Jack staring in the window. Bobby put his hand on Jack's shoulder, "How you holdin' up, little brother?"

"Ok, I guess. I just keep thinking how strong she is, how she will get through and if she will be the same."

"She'll make it. She'll be ok. We'll make sure of that."

"Do you think it would be ok if I went in to see her?" Jack looked at Bobby.

"You go right ahead, do what you want."

Jack walked quietly into the room and sat down next to the bed.

Bobby watched in amazement, 'He has grown up so fast, it is hard to believe he was once a scared little boy.'

_A boy, about ten years old, literally hiding behind Evelyn Mercer's skirt. When Bobby came down the stairs he had screamed and hid._

The doctor came back, "Ok, Bobby, I put the information in her chart."

"Thanks doc. Tell me something, how bad is it?"

"I don't know about her mental state, but her body is really bad off."

"Tell me. Jack is going to want to know and I should be the one to tell him."

"Ok, she had multiple bruises, what made them is unknown, multiple cuts, some precise they were done deliberately, and she was raped numerous times. Then there are the cuts on her wrists, which we know were self-inflicted. I need to know something, when you said no restraints, does that mean you also don't want any chemical restraints?"

"Chemical, as in sedation?"

"Yes, until she can finally comprehend what happened and where she is it might best."

"Only if you don't knock her out completely, unless she requests it. Got it?"

"Ok, thank you. You might want to check on your brother." He shook Bobby's hand and left.

Bobby went into the room, Jack was sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking Dawn's hair, "It will be ok, I, we are going to help you."

Bobby cleared his throat, "I need to tell you something."

**Sorry it took me so long to update, a lot has been going on. But I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will try to update again soon.**

**disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the characters that did not appear in the movie.**


	6. Chapter 6

"He what!" Jack couldn't seem to wrap his mind around what Bobby was trying to tell him.

Bobby put his hand on Jack's shoulder, "I know this is a lot to comprehend right now, but you need to focus on Dawn, not what happened to her." He turned Jack to face him, "She needs all of our love and support right now and probably in the near future. So process what I just told you and let it go, ok?"

"Ok, should we tell the others? We have all been through a whole lot between the four of us; do you think they can handle it?" Jack was pacing, he was making Bobby dizzy.

Bobby looked in the observation window to Dawn's room; her foot was twitching like a dog have a dream. He couldn't help but wonder the same thing Angel had said, 'Who could hurt someone who is so loving and cares so much about a bunch of rejects like us?'

"It's up to you, you can tell them or not. It's your call." Bobby figured it was up to Jack to tell people.

They heard a strange noise from inside Dawn's room, they turned to look, and she was thrashing on the bed, look like she was fighting off an invisible attacker. Jack put his hand on the doorknob, "I need to help her."

He walked in the room and stopped short of the bed, "Dawn you need to calm down, your going to hurt yourself."

She stopped when she heard his voice and slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were still slightly swollen, so she could only open slits, "Who is there? Are you going to hurt me?"

"Never. I would never hurt you."

"I can't trust anyone, he hurt me, but he was supposed to love me."

"I love you, I would never hurt you, ever."

"Just leave me alone, go away!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Jack jumped back, he hadn't ever heard her yell that loud and never at him. He turned and left the room. She stayed on the bed and cried, punching the pillow.

"I saw, are you alright?" Bobby touched Jack's back.

Jack turned to look at him, "I don't know what to think. She doesn't know me or doesn't want to know me. She'll never trust me again." He put his hands to his face.

Jerry, Angel and Sophie came down the hall, "What was that? It sounded like someone screaming." Jerry was looking at Jack with concern.

Bobby looked at them, "It was Dawn, she's awake and not happy." He pointed toward the room.

Dawn was sitting on the bed looking at some of the visible bruises and playing with the tape on her wrists.

"She looks so sad." Sophie hugged Angel.

A nurse came up to them, "I need to check her bandages."

Angel stepped out of the way, "Be my guest."

She went into the room, "Ms. Hart, I need to check your bandages."

"See." Dawn held up her wrists, "There still here."

"I need to come closer."

"Whatever." She lay back on the bed.

The guys and Sophie were watching intently through the window. The nurse walked over to the bed, she lifted each arm separately and examined the bandages and tape. When she was satisfied that they were still secured she spoke, "I need to check your back, please roll on your side."

Dawn did as she was asked, "Go ahead."

The nurse undid the gown and opened it.

"Oh shit!" It was Angel could say, Sophie turned green and ran to the bathroom.

Jack looked at Bobby, "Did you know it was that bad?"

"No."

What they saw were cuts, some small and some long, numerous purple bruises, also some welts that were still puffy. Some of the cuts looked like scratched from fingernails.

"What did that son of a bitch do to her?" Angel said, watching for Sophie to come back from the bathroom.

"Well," Jack started

Jerry turned to look at him, "Well, what?"

Jack turned to look at Bobby; he shrugged and looked back in the window.

"Well, Bobby and I have already been told what happened to her and I was debating on whether to tell you or not."

"How could you not tell us? She's like our family, what gives you the right to decide…" Jerry was fuming.

"If I hadn't brought her here you wouldn't know her. What makes you thing you have any right to her at all?" Jack was now standing his full height and trying to intimidate Jerry into backing down. The look in his eyes made even Angel look down.

Jerry also slowly looked down, but continued, "She is our family and so are you, if you hurt so do we. You can tell us or not, you, and only, you can do that."

"Ok, fine, but you asked for it." He told Jerry and Angel what Bobby had told him, "Are you happy now?" He turned his face away, rubbing away tears.

Angel rubbed his head, "Ok now we know, so what are we going to do to that sick bastar

Jerry looked at both Angel and Jack, "I think we need to make sure that Dawn is ok before we do anything else, but that is just my opinion."

Jack nodded in agreement, "I think your right."

They all turned and looked back in at Dawn's room. The nurse had already left and none of them had heard, they were too engulfed in their conversation to notice. They saw Bobby sitting in the chair next to Dawn's bed, crying.

"What should we do? I don't think I have ever seen him cry, have you guys?" Jack turned toward his brothers.

"Not since he was young and since the nightmares have ended. Last time he was about twelve years old." Jerry looked like he was remembering the past.

They turned to look back at Bobby in the room, Dawn appeared to be sleeping. 'The nurse must have sedated her before she left, but she didn't seem to be out of control. She wasn't screaming or yelling.' Thought Jack

Bobby turned to look at the window, saw his brothers looking in and just turned his head back toward the bed. Dawn started twitching in the bed, Bobby put his hand on her shoulder and she stopped. All of a sudden she grabbed Bobby's hand, threw it to one side and jumped off the bed. She ran quickly to the corner of the room and coward there like a child afraid of the dark. Bobby looked at her with pain in his eyes remembering, 'Himself as a young boy yelling, pleading, "No more mommy, please don't hurt me anymore." He shook his head, his eyes cleared; he got up and left the room.

No sooner had he left the room, then the nurse that examined her and three other nurses appeared, "Please move we need to get in there."

The guys moved, the nurses went into the room and they watched as one nurse pushed a syringe into a small bottle.

Jack looked at Jerry, "Why are they doing that? Are they sedating her? Why?" He shook Jerry, "I want to know what they are doing!"

Jerry pulled his hands off, "Ask them, not me."

"I will!" He stormed into the room; three of the nurses were fighting to hold her arms and legs, so the last nurse could give her the shot.

"Why are you doing this and what is in that syringe?"

"We were told by Dr. Cedar to sedate her, she needs to be calm."

"She was calm before you started manhandling her."

"She wasn't calm, she was afraid and shaking."

"You are a," Jack shook his head, "Haven't you ever been afraid of something, so afraid that you didn't know how to deal with it?"

"No." The nurse put her hands on her hips.

Jack could tell she was lying, "Bullshit! Let go of her, get out and don't come back in here unless she is totally freakin' out. Got it?"

They started moving toward the door, "Dr. Cedar will hear about this."

"I hope so; now go, before I lose my temper."

The nurses scurried out of the room like rats from a sinking ship.

Jack turned to Dawn, "Are you ok?"

She was rubbing her arms where they were holding her, she nodded.

"Ok, I'm glad. I'm going to leave now, but I'll come back tomorrow to see you if you want?"

She shrugged but never looked up. Jack said goodbye and quietly left the room. When she heard the door close, she walked over and locked it. She turned off the light, got in bed and cried herself to sleep.

Sophie had finally returned, they could tell she fixed her make-up while she was gone. They were all starting to leave when Dr. Cedar showed up, "Why were you threatening my nurses?"

Bobby started to open his mouth, but Jack started talking before he got a chance, "Why did you want to sedate her?"

"To keep her calm."

"She was and still is calm or are we looking at two different patients?"

"She, uh, looked, uh…" Dr. Cedar couldn't find the right words.

"That's what I thought, we'll see you tomorrow."

They all walked away. When they got outside the hospital Angel high-fived Jack, "Way to stand-up for your woman!"

A week had gone by; the guys had been to visit Dawn everyday. She seemed to be getting better physically, but mentally was another story.

She jumped off the bed, she was dressed in shorts, tank top and sneakers, "Hi, hi! How are you today?"

Jack looked at her, "Fine, what's up with you?"

"The sky, the birds, the clouds, the trees." She laughed, a little girl laugh. That is how it had been for the past couple of days. She was childish and playful with the guys, but with people she didn't know, she was a scold as ice and just as hard. She ran over and gave Jack a quick hug; then she looked around him, "Where are they? Are they coming?"

Her bouncing was making him smile, "They're coming, and they'll be here in a few minutes. You need to calm down or your going to get the doctor in here again."

She stopped, "Which one?"

He looked at her questionably, "What do you mean which one?"

She moved across the room, grabbed a can off the table and sat down on the floor, "There are two that come to see me." She opened the can, dumped out the sticks and started to strategically pick them up.

"What are their names?"

The guys came in, she dropped the sticks she had picked up and stood up; she made a running leap at Bobby, he caught her in a hug and kissed her cheek, "You're getting to big to be doing this, ya know?"

"I know." She put her feet on the floor and hugged Angel and Jerry then went back to her pick-up sticks. "Dr. Cedar and Dr. Roberts."

"What?" Jack looked down at her.

She looked at him, "You asked who the doctors are? Duh!"

He smiled, "Oh, yes I did. Thank you for reminding me." He looked at Bobby and rolled his eyes, "I hope I wasn't like this?"

"Worse." Jerry laughed

"No way I was worse than that."

Angel smiled, "The duh sounds familiar."

They heard someone clear their throat, when they looked there was an older gentlemen standing in the doorway. Dawn looked up from her game and the guys could see her expression change drastically. She picked up the game and put it away; then she sat down on the bed. The gentlemen approached her, "Good afternoon, Dawn."

She grunted, "Hello."

"Who are your friends?"

"Why don't you ask them?"

Jack looked at Bobby, "What a change."

"She doesn't like him." Bobby put his finger to his lips.

"Dawn, I asked you to introduce your friends."

"Guys, Dr. Roberts. Dr. Roberts, the guys. Are you fucking happy? I also told you not to call me Dawn, the name is Lilith."

"No it's Dawn."

She stood up and approached the doctor, "Dawn couldn't handle it, so I came around and Heidi is the child she missed being because of all the bullshit she had to go through. Haven't we talked about this already?"

"You need to sit down and let me talk to your friends."

"You need to fuck off, asshole!"

Bobby stood up, "Dawn!"

"Lilith! Sit down, muscleman. If you could see what I see you would run and hide like Dawn did, too." She sat down on the bed.

Dr. Roberts approached the guys, "We should talk outside."

They all got up and went outside the room. They introduced themselves to Dr. Roberts, "It's good to meet all of you. Now about Dawn."

"Ya, what is going on with her?" Jack inquired

"Well, Dr. Cedar called me in a couple of days ago; he noticed the mood changes in her. So I came in and spoke to her. The first few minutes she was Heidi, the child, and then she turned to Lilith, the mean one. Lilith is the personality that protects Dawn from anything that might hurt her and Heidi is, like she said, the part of Dawn that is a child from the childhood she missed. They have probably been around for a while but they lay dormant for a long time. The attack made them resurface."

The guys really didn't know what to think, but Jerry spoke up, "So is Dawn still in there?"

"Yes, but she can't or won't come out now."

"So what do we do?"

"Just treat the two different personalities like they are really people, for now. I am checking with some colleagues to see how to proceed. I only came down to see how she would react to me being in the room with you, now we know. Lilith finds me a threat to her no matter who is around."

"She doesn't like you at all." Jack smiled, "I'm going back in, I don't care who she thinks she is, I love her."

Jack went back into the room, Bobby turned toward the doctor, "I don't care how you do it, just fix her."

They all went back in the room and when Dr. Roberts looked in the window he knew Heidi was back.

**Chapter 6 up and running. I hope you all like the way this is going. The reviews are coming in quickly and I love it, keep them coming. I will try to make some of your suggestions come true in the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Four Brothers movie, but I do own everything and everyone that I made up for this story.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I know it has been a long time since I updated this story, but I am going to try and get back to it. Life sometimes gets in the way of things that you enjoy doing.**

**disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with the Four Brothers movie.**

Dr. Roberts called the Mercer house and Bobby answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Hello, may I ask who I'm speaking to?"

"This is Bobby, who is this?"

"This is Dr. Roberts, Dawn's doctor, I would like to speak to you and your brothers this afternoon if that's possible."

Bobby nodded, "I'll make sure that we're all there. Talk to you this afternoon, Dr. Roberts."

They both hung up the phone and Bobby spoke to all his brothers about going to the hospital.

All the Mercer brothers showed up at the hospital and made their way to Dr. Roberts' office.

Dr. Roberts asked them all to sit down, "I think you need to take Dawn home."

Jack sat forward, "What do you mean you think we should take her home? You don't whether we should or not."

"I don't really know what to tell you. I haven't seen any cases like this."

Bobby stood up, "Are we dealing with Dawn or the other two?"

"You will be dealing with the other two personalities. All I can say is treat her like you would any other person in your home. If she is Heidi, treat her like she is a child and if she becomes Lillith, then treat her like she wants to be treated."

Bobby leaned his hands on the doctor's desk, "This is your solution? You just want us to take her home and coddle her. You want us to pretend that nothing is wrong?"

Dr. Roberts nodded, "I think being in familiar surroundings will help Dawn come back to the surface and it will, hopefully, push the other two personalities out of her for good."

Bobby shrugged and turned to Jack, "I think it's up to you, Jackie, she's your girlfriend."

Jack stood up, "Will you guys help me with her?"

His brothers nodded.

"Ok, then let's bring her home and see if we can fix what's wrong." Jack left the room and went to Dawn's room.

She was sitting on the bed in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, "Hi, Jack. Dr. Roberts said that you might be taking me home today, are you?"

Jack knelt down next to the bed, "You know if you come home with me who you're going to be living with, right?"

Heidi nodded, "I'll be living with you, Bobby and Angel. Angel has his girlfriend and her name is Sophie."

"How can you remember all of that?"

Heidi leaned down near Jack's ear and whispered, "Dawn tells me things and I listen to her really good, but when Lillith talks to me I try not to listen at all."

Jack stood up and put his hand out for her, "Come on, let's go and meet the guys at the car."

She took his hand and followed him, "I'm scared, Jack."

"You don't have to be scared anything."

Heidi nodded her head, but stayed quiet.

They walked to the car and the guys were leaning against it waiting for them. Bobby saw the look on Heidi's face, "What's with the sad face, little girl?"

She shook her head, "I'm scared." She held onto Jack's hand like a child that was confronting a bully.

"You don't have to be scared. We're all here to protect you."

She looked up at him slowly, "You won't leave me alone?"

"Never, now can we go home?"

Heidi looked at him, "Ok." She climbed in the car and sat quiet all the way home.

When they got to the house Heidi was the first one at the door, "Are you guys coming?"

Jack smiled, "You have to give us a minute we're old men, ya know?"

She giggled and sat on the steps waiting for them to get to her. When they unlocked the door Heidi walked into the house slowly.

She looked everywhere, upstairs and down, then she sat down on the couch and looked at the guys, "What do we do know?"

Jack sat down on the floor in front of her, "What do you want to do?"

"I want to see my room."

"Your room…" Jack looked at Bobby, "She wants to see her room."

Bobby stood quiet for a minute, "Can I talk to you guys in the kitchen?"

The brothers got up and walked in the kitchen. They looked at each other, "Where is she going to sleep?"

Jack shrugged, "She's been sleeping with me in my room. I guess we could give the room to her and I'll sleep on the couch."

Bobby nodded, "She'll sleep in your room and I'll sleep on the couch."

They all nodded, but when they got into the living room Heidi was asleep on the couch curled up into a ball.

Jack walked over to her and was picking her up to take her upstairs, when she woke up and looked at him, "Put me down before I smack you."

He immediately put her down, "Sorry, you were sleeping and I thought…"

"Well, you thought wrong. I don't like to be touched ever. Don't touch me and we'll get along fine, got it?"

They all nodded.

"Am I staying in Jack's room or am I sleeping on the couch?"

They all looked at her dumbfounded.

"I know everything that Dawn knows, remember? Jesus, you guys aren't the smartest eggs in the bunch are you?" She walked around the living room, "So what do you have to drink in this place?"

"Go in the kitchen and find out." Bobby sat down in the chair.

"Fine." She walked into the kitchen and came back out with a beer in her hand.

Lilith took a drink and burped, "Whoa, nice one."

Jack stood up, "That's gross, and don't you have any manners?"

She smiled, "Look at Mr. Goody Two Shoes here, don't you have any manners?" She was mocking Jack.

He stood up and approached her, "I would love to say I know what you're going through. Oh, I can say that, because we all have gone through the same things, but we didn't have two other personalities to let us hide from what was happening to us. I wish I did, but I didn't." Jack left the house slamming the door behind him.

Lillith smiled, "Sensitive, isn't he?"

Bobby just grunted and Angel went upstairs to his room. Lillith sat down on the couch, "So, muscleman, what do you plan on doing? Are you going to cry or go and find you little brother to make sure that he's ok?"

"Neither, I'm gonna sit right here and watch you." He leaned back in the chair and stared at her.


End file.
